


Little Things

by thatisnotokay



Category: Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!
Genre: Aged Up, Domestic, Fluff, M/M, New Apartment AU, Post-Canon, collections of short stories
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-12
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 06:55:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3927112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatisnotokay/pseuds/thatisnotokay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Highschool is over and Mihashi and Abe have bought an apartment together. A collection of short stories about the little things that happen in that little home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unpacking

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't ever really done fluff before, so this is kind of new to me. 
> 
> I don't know how many short stories will be in here, so updates after the first three will be irregular.
> 
> Sorry if the boys are a little out of character!
> 
> (The only major differences to canon that I'm throwing in is that Mihashi needs hearing aids and is SUPER uncomfortable with loud noises. I don't know where I first heard the hc, but I haven't been able to think of him without them since. I'm not deaf or impaired myself and all that I know I've just read online, so if anybody has any tips or things that I need to fix, please let me know!)

Abe kicked the door shut behind him, grimacing as the heavy cardboard box pushed its corners against his skin. He waddled with the large box across the floor, dancing carefully around the various other boxes. His new apartment was smaller than he was expecting, and he just hoped that all these boxes would be gone.   
  
“Ren, was 'kitchen'? I can't read this.”   
  
The blond turned around from his place on the floor to look at him. Abe saw the quizzical look on his face and repeated himself, making sure to move his lips.   
  
“You wrote that one. I didn't have any kitchen stuff to bring,” Mihashi said. He went back to rearranging the wooden TV stand against the wall. Abe groaned loudly, hoping his boyfriend could hear him, and tried to decipher his (or his little brother's?) messy handwriting.  
  
Grumbling to himself, he set the box down on top of a higher stack. He opened it and rummaged around, finding newspaper-wrapped plates and bowls. They were garish, painted yellow with patterned fruits in the ceramic. Abe remembered when he dropped one of the handed-down bowls, leaving a giant chip on the outside of the ugly thing.   
  
“Maybe we can eat off of paper plates,” he mumbled to himself, cursing his mother for packing the hideous dishes. He picked the box up again and hauled it into the kitchen to set it amongst the boxes of silverware and food.   
  
The kitchen itself was small, but big enough for Mihashi to walk around in when he was cooking. Maybe not big enough for both Mihashi and Abe to cook, but Abe didn't really think that he would be asked to help. As he unpacked, he mused about how the yellow plates clashed against the black countertop. The clear cups weren't a bad match, so he kept them out of the small overhead cupboard and lined them up along the wall. He nodded to himself, liking the cups against the black counter and off-white wall.   
  
Mihashi wandered his way into the kitchen, almost tripping on one of the boxes on the floor. He scooted himself next to Abe and helped him unpack dishes and various appliances. He reorganized some of Abe's things, and stacked the bowls on top of the plates so they could fit more things up there.   
  
“Can you move the cups up top?” he asked as he pulled out their old toaster.   
  
“What?” Abe shook his head. “No. I like them there.”   
  
“We need room for this and the cutting board.”  
  
Abe shook his head and continued to place the silverware into little drawers.   
  
“Takaya, come on. We need room,” Mihashi urged. He made a move to get the cups out of the way.   
  
Abe watched him with furrowed eyebrows. As soon as the cups were moved away and Mihashi turned to get the toaster again, Abe quietly pushed the cups back into place. It was out of spite, but he had to suppress giggles when he saw Mihashi glare at him.   
  
“Move them!” the blond squeaked. Abe pretended not to hear him. “Takaya. I know you can hear me. Move them!”  
  
“I like them there.”  
  
Mihashi put the bulky toaster down in a huff. “Where are we going to put the toaster, then?”  
  
“We won't use it that often. Just put it below the sink,” the brunet shrugged. He was watching Mihashi out of the corner of his eye, biting his tongue to not laugh at the young adult acting like a child.   
  
“ _Move it_.”   
  
Mihashi was a little disappointed when Abe didn't show the usual surprise (and excitement) at his demanding tone. Brown eyes bore into the side of Abe's face as he nonchalantly continued to organize silverware.  
  
“...I know you can hear me. Takaya, move them. They'll be fine in the cupboard; we need the counter for the toaster. Takaya, come on. Move them! ....I'm going to break them. I mean it, Takaya, I'll throw them right at you.... Takaya, move the cups!”  
  
Mihashi tried to pull at the other man's arm, availing to nothing but Abe stifling his laughter. He groaned as loud as he could and shoved the glasses aside, careful not to damage any of them despite his earlier bluff. After placing the second hand toaster down, he reached for his hearing aids. Finally, Abe looked over at him.   
  
“Ren? Oh, come on, don't take them out. Don't be a sore loser. Ren, I'm sor—” the rest of Abe's rather amused pleads muted out, becoming nothing but indecipherable, dull noises. He turned and went to out the aids back into their case, and was confident that Abe was following him and asking him to put them back in.   
  
Sure enough, Abe was at his side and trying to get his attention as Mihashi popped the blue case closed. That made him feel at least a little better. Without looking at him, the blond went back and started to move the cups into the cupboard. He saw Abe trying to talk to him, and heard just a bit of it, but ignored him.   
  
“Ren!” Abe practically yelled. He made sure not to get too loud, just in case it caused Mihashi's recruitment to bother his ears. (He remembered briefly the first time Mihashi told him that his yelling _really_ bothered him, to the point it was almost painful. He had felt so bad that he didn't shout for a week. He's since learned when Loud becomes Too Loud.)  
  
“You're being ridiculous. I was trying to play. Ren. Stop it, just go put your aids back in.” The sound of clinking filled his ears as he hurriedly tried to take the few remaining glasses and putting them up in the cupboard. “There. Go put your aids back in. Please.”  
  
Abe even tried to get his boyfriend to look him in the face, but Mihashi skillfully avoided his eyes.  
  
Mihashi went around the house like that the rest of the day, eventually losing his bad mood. Abe kept bringing him things like boxes with toothbrushes and towels so he could help Mihashi unpack the bathroom. He just took the boxes from the brunet and placed them in his lap to unpack them, turning his body whenever Abe reached for something. Abe caught him trying not to giggle a few times, which kept his temper at bay. Occasionally, Mihashi would unpack something interesting (an old favorite book, a stuffed animal he forgot he packed, and one of Mihashi's favorite, stupid movies) and show it to him.  
  
By the time it was dark outside and they had to turn on the lights to see, Mihashi was back to meekly exploring the new home, rearranging a few things here and there until he was happy. Abe wasn't upset anymore either, and quietly watched him as he reclined in the old love seat that Mihashi had brought from his home.   
  
“You're not nesting, y'know,” he said, fully aware that he wasn't heard properly. He had been making off hand, sarcastic comments for the past hour. “We don't have everything unpacked yet, Ren. You'll be rearranging forever if you do it as you go.”  
  
Grey eyes watched as the young man wandered out of sight. Abe had expected him to be tuckered out already- eyes half closed and unfocused, legs off balance, and head drooping like it was ready to meet a pillow. To his surprise, Mihashi was still moving about like he was that morning. (Okay, maybe they had a few rough patches that morning where Mihashi tried to stall moving the boxes in.)   
  
He was also surprised that Mihashi had kept that pissy attitude for that long, and more so that kept his hearing aids out for as long as he did. Usually Abe just had to hand them over to him (Mihashi learned to just keep the aids in his pocket), he put them in, and the two made up. Abe was noticing more of these 'bad' attitudes lately, and he wasn't used to them. He was accustomed to avoidance of bad topics and Abe himself when it was too bad. Now, with the blond opening up a little bit, the young man was able to experience new sides of his old teammate that he'd never known. He knew he must have been opening up too, because sometimes he'd say things and Mihashi would stare at him for a bit, beaming. Mihashi had also learned how to relieve Abe from his own bad attitudes- a steady look with his big, brown puppy eyes usually quelled the brunet's temper.  
  
“At least it's progress,” he thought out loud.   
  
Abe closed his eyes and rested his head on the back of the couch, sinking into the worn cushioning. He stretched out, hanging his arms over the back. While he didn't like the faded blue of the furniture, he was glad that it at least matched the single armchair that Mihashi's mom had sent along with her son. A look that the older woman gave them crossed Abe's mind. It wasn't stern or concerned, but almost knowing; it was a quick, subtle glance that she had thrown Abe's way when he was packing up the old love seat. He remembered feeling a shiver up his back and a turning in his stomach. He was still afraid to tell almost everyone about his and Mihashi's relationship.   
  
“...When are we gonna tell our parents?” he called out, thinking out loud. He let out a long, low groan and continued. “I mean, we can't hide everything from them forever. Hanai and the rest of the team already know, no doubt. Your mom definitely knows something is up, and my little brother almost caught us kissing that one time. I would rather us tell them than them find out on their own. It's more controlled that way. I know you don't like confrontation like that, but if we do it it's better than them confronting us when they find out through Loud Mouth Tajima or something.”  
  
The seat dipped and Abe opened his eyes to see Mihashi adjusting his hearing aids before leaning into the crook of his arm. The warmth was welcomed. He waited until Mihashi was done adjusting and kissed the hair on the side of the blond's head.   
  
“I got from 'confronting us when they find out from Loud Mouth Tajima.' I didn't get anything before that,” Mihashi breathed out, closing his eyes.  
  
“I was just wondering how we're gonna tell our parents, is all.”  
  
“About what?”  
  
“Us.”  
  
“What about us?”  
  
“What do you mean, 'what about us'? _This_. Right here. What you're doing right now. That's 'what about us.'”  
  
Mihashi hummed briefly, not really paying attention, and absently nuzzled his nose into Abe's neck. He wasn't wearing any cologne, which Mihashi liked, but he smelled like sweat. His grey t-shirt was damp from the work, especially around the armpits and collar.   
  
“You stink,” he told his boyfriend, moving his head so he wasn't inhaling the body odor. His cheek squished against the skin of Abe's neck.   
  
“Then move,” the taller man replied. His tone was full of feigned annoyance, but his body was relaxed and his eyes were closed again.   
  
“Don't wanna,” the blond whined. “I'm too tired.”  
  
The two fell into a comfortable silence. The air was becoming chilly and smelled like musty cardboard, but the thought of getting up and closing the windows was quickly abandoned in favor of laziness. Abe still had his nose and cheek against Mihashi's head as he dozed off, feeling safe with the warm weight against his side. The other was already out, mouth agape and drool smearing onto Abe's shirt.  
  
The two slept against each other, too comfortable to move, for a few hours before the chilly air (and a few stray hairs tickling Abe's nose) woke the pair. Groggy and sleepy bodies moved around the small apartment until the windows were closed, sleep clothes were on, and they were side by side on the temporary futon.   
  
After a few knocks of elbows and more hair tickling noses, the two were settled down for their first night in their new apartment.


	2. Breakfast

Mihashi whined to himself when he was pulled out of a bizarre dream by the loud, annoying beeping of the bedside alarm. As faint images of talking baseballs and Nishiura boys in neon pink uniforms faded from his memory, he pulled the blankets off of him and kicked his legs off the bed. He put in his aids and heard clattering from the kitchen.  
  
“Please, just let it be toast.” He remembered the first time Abe cooked for him back in their third year of high school. The poor catcher couldn’t even make noodles without Mihashi’s help.  
  
He walked across the small apartment until he was able to see Abe's bare back in the kitchen. His back was to Mihashi, and the blond could see the lithe muscles in the other's back move as he 'cooked'. He watched for a moment, then rubbed his eyes and leaned against the kitchen entrance.  
  
“Did you make coffee?” he asked quietly.  
  
“Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?”  
  
Mihashi shuffled around and got out plates and forks, carrying them into the living room. He put them on the coffee table in the middle of the room and plopped a spot on the floor. (He didn't like eating on the love seat; Mrs. Mihashi said it would last them longer if they didn't spill food or drink on it.)  
  
In the few minutes it took for Abe to bring the food in, the blond already had his forehead on the table and drool dripping from his mouth. Abe was tempted to nudge him with his foot, but didn't bother. He sat the food down on the plates and placed rice bowls and cups of coffee next to them.  
  
“These ugly plates again?” he asked.  
  
“Mm.”  
  
“We have perfectly fine paper plates.”  
  
“Mmmm.”  
  
“Why aren't you awake yet?”  
  
“Nn.”  
  
Abe pushed his palm to his mouth to hide his giggling. He had already seen his boyfriend this tired four times this week. The first time, he _had_ nudged him with his foot when he fell asleep at the makeshift breakfast table. The second, he touched Mihashi's exposed inner thigh with a cold glass of ice water when the blond fell asleep spread-eagle on the couch, clad in nothing but boxers. The third time, he had come up behind the blond as he dozed off at the sink and spooked him with a slap to his ass.  
  
“I'm going to eat your toast.”  
  
“Mmn.”  
  
“You'll only have rice to eat.”

  
“Mm.”  
  
Abe looked over the other for a few more seconds, biting his smiling lips when Mihashi didn't move to eat. He quickly planned his strategy of attack before scooting himself over where the pitcher sat.  
  
“Ren~” he cooed, getting close to his face.  
  
“Mm?”  
  
“Wake up~”  
  
“Mmm.”  
  
Abe quietly positioned himself behind Mihashi and wrapped his arms around him slowly. He spoke into his ear, not particularly caring if the blond could hear his low, unimportant words of 'Its time to wake up~'  
  
After managing to scoot Mihashi away from the low table to avoid injury, Abe pushed his fingers against the soft skin of the blond's side. Mihashi jerked up, but Abe didn't relent. He kept tickling him, having to move his head to the side when Mihashi's whipped back.  
  
“Takaya!” he laughed, struggling to get the words out of his mouth. “I get it, I'll- aah haha- I'll wake up-ahaha!”  
  
With all of Mihashi's squirming, it wasn't long before he was laid back on the floor, Abe over him and keeping him pinned with his legs. Both boys were laughing, red in the faces, and trying their best to tickle the other.  
  
“I-I give! G-give!” Mihashi chirped after Abe's superior tickling skills won over his own pathetic attempts.  
  
Abe leaned up and sat back where he was on Mihashi's hips. They were both breathing heavily, stomachs aching and faces and necks red with the sudden excitement.  
  
“...You awake now?”  
  
Abe received an affirmative chirp in response as Mihashi wiped the hot tears from his eyes, chest heaving as he caught his breath. Abe felt his face heat up at the sight, and got off of him and helped him sit up. He smoothed the blond's bed head for a moment before scooting back to his plate.  
  
“Don't fall asleep next time,” Abe mused as he bit into his burnt toast. “Not only will you not get tickled, the food won't be shit.”  
  
The next morning, Mihashi was the one to wake Abe up with an early-morning tickle fight. (Abe still won, even though he was half asleep.)


	3. Moles

The couple were having their weekly Shitty Movie Night, laid out on the couch and tangled up under a warm, old blanket. Abe had his back on the arm of the love seat with Mihashi laying on him. Abe's foot was off the couch and out from under the warm protection of the blanket.  
  
“This movie sucks,” he told the blond.  
  
Mihashi had picked out the 'scary' movie from his stack of movies from his old home. Most of them were baseball movies, including a few Hollywood movies, and some of them were silly children movies. Some of them, like the selection tonight, were second-rate, low budget horror films. The movie tonight was about a baseball bat possessed by a demon, and anybody who swings it immediately gets possessed and kills their teammates.  
  
“I like the main character.”  
  
“You only like him because he looks like you.”  
  
The two snacked on popcorn and cheap candy as the movie continued. Abe lost interest after the bat took on a deep, awfully distorted voice that spoke in rhyme. He watched Mihashi, who was interested to the point that he didn't notice Abe toying with his hair. He continued running his fingers through the unwashed hair, returning his attention to the movie only when there was a scream. In his 'exploration', he spotted a little brown mole right at the base of Mihashi's neck.  
  
“You have a mole,” Abe reported quietly, moving Mihashi's hair to the side to get a better look.  
  
“Do I?” The pitcher didn't sound too interested.  
  
“Yeah. Right here,” Abe muttered as he placed a kiss on the brown spot. Some sugary candy residue on his lips stayed behind, marking where he kissed.  
  
Mihashi leaned back into him a little more, humming softly. “Where was it?”  
  
The brunet smiled and kissed the spot again. He kept his lips close to the skin of his neck and said, “Right here.” His eyes searched quickly and found another mole at the collar of Mihashi's t-shirt.  
  
“And another one right here.” Kiss. He found two on the curve of his shoulders. “And two here.” Kiss, kiss. There was one under his jaw, and Abe could just barely reach it at their current position. “And there.”  
  
Shitty movie forgotten, Mihashi turned himself around until their chests were together and they were close enough to count each other's eyelashes. Abe saw his brown eyes search his face before the pitcher pressed his lips to his chin.  
  
“You have one right there,” he told Abe, playing along with his Mole Kissing shenanigans. “You have a lot, actually. Just not on your face.”  
  
Abe could feel the heat of Mihashi's cheeks when the blond kissed his lips, and felt his own face heat up when he felt calloused hands start to pull up his shirt. He bit his lip to keep from smiling and laughing at the soft, nervous sigh when Mihashi pulled away, kissing at the moles on Abe's neck. Abe noticed that the blond's hands were shaky against his ribs.  
  
“Here. And here. Three here, in a little triangle.” It tickled when Mihashi laughed against his collarbone.  
  
“I think you're missing some on the other side,” Abe said, loving the feeling of Mihashi kissing his skin and wanting more of it. Brown eyes darted to look at the opposite side of Abe's neck.  
  
“You have, like, one,” he laughed.  
  
“It's feeling neglected.”  
  
“You're so cute,” Mihashi mused under his breath, not caring if Abe heard him. He kissed the tiny mole and made sure there weren't any other brown dots he was missing. “All done up here.”  
  
Mihashi's hands had been running up and down Abe's sides for a while, less shaky than before, and now they tugged his shirt up until the tank top was off. He shimmied his way down, shins on the other arm of the love seat and feet dangling off the side, and kissed at the broad chest in front of him. Abe just leaned back and watched the blond, a pit in his stomach heating up.  
  
'I love you,' he thought. It was sudden and quiet, and the first time he's ever thought it seriously. He was too embarrassed to say it out loud.  
  
“See?” Mihashi said against the skin of his breast. “You have lots.”  
  
He kept kissing the dark dots along his ribcage, making sure not to miss any. If he thought he did, he kissed it again. Abe's sighs and relaxed muscles kept Mihashi going towards the waistband of his sweatpants. His hands were at Abe's clothed thighs, rubbing circles into his hipbone.  
  
A loud scream from the TV distracted both of them.  
  
“...dammit,” Abe groaned, leaning off the love seat to grab the remote. He turned it off just as the main character opened his mouth to scream. “Shut up.”  
  
Abe leaned back, and the two met eyes before bursting into laughter.  
  
“I hate that movie,” Abe said, sitting up. Mihashi adjusted until he was seated next to Abe.  
  
“That was the best part,” he protested between fits of giggles. “Yoichi was about to break the bat in half.”  
  
The two leaned against each other and laughed, and Abe kissed Mihashi's lips in short pecks.  
  
“That. Was. The. Stupidest. Move. Ever.” He kissed him between the words.  
  
“It wasn't— that bad, you— just didn't— watch it all— the way— through,” Mihashi defended, being interrupted by kisses and his own laughter.  
  
“It was awful.”  
  
Abe kept him from defending the horror film by pressing a long, sweet kiss to his lips. Their laughter died down and kissing returned, the movie not there to distract them.  
  
“Mm- hold on. Hold on,” Mihashi pushed Abe back after a few kisses. “I have to pee.”  
  
The laughter started again and didn't stop until the young couple kissed every mole and freckle that they could find on the other's body.


	4. Yawns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello. It's been like, seven months. I'm so sorry.
> 
> I have at least one more chapter that I have in mind, maybe two (that doesn't mean that it's gonna end after that, though.)
> 
> It's short, but I wrote it in like an hour. I got back into the fluff-mood, and needed my two favorite baseball players to be at least remotely cute.

A yawn, gargled and long, startled Abe out of his sleep. The sudden pang in his heart, caused by the sudden rush of adrenaline, numbed away as he burrowed his face into his pillow. Choking down a deep growl of annoyance, Abe raised himself to look at the alarm clock on the other side of the bed. It was thirty minutes before he needed to get up, but he wasn’t surprised; Mihashi usually tried to wake up earlier than Abe to shower and get a head start on breakfast. And he _always_ yawned before he put his hearing aids in.

 

Abe didn’t know if he knew how loud he yawned, or that he always woke Abe up, but it was starting to get on his nerves. He just wanted to sleep in a little bit longer but it always takes him a few minutes to fall back to sleep, whatnot with Mihashi rummaging around for clothes and the shower going in the next room over.

 

He can’t say it was one of Mihashi’s more endearing traits.

 

~~

 

For the first time in a few weeks, Abe woke up to the sound of his own alarm. Facing away from the obnoxious alarm, his back felt uncharacteristically cold. He turned around, rubbing his eyes and stretching his legs. His yawn was cut short when a certain blond was missing from the bed space next to him. He sat up a little straighter, stretching his neck to look into the darkened hallway to see if the bathroom light was on.

                                                                                                       

A tiny, cold thought of panic settled in the back of his mind when he saw Mihashi’s hearing aids still on the bedside table.

 

“...Ren?” he called, not considering that the other young man wouldn’t have been able to hear him.

 

He quickly got out of bed, not caring about the sharp chill of the air while he made his way around the bed to grab the aids and exit the bedroom.

 

“Ren?”

 

He peeked inside the bathroom; no Ren. He walked down the rest of the short hallway to the kitchen; no Ren. A panic was settled in his chest as he spun around, looking for shoes near the door. They were there, along with Mihashi’s coat.

 

Ears picked up a small snore from the couch. Abe released the breath he didn’t realize he was holding when he saw socked feet poking out from one side, a limp hand hanging off the other side. Effectively worn out from the mild panic, he leisurely walked over to the couch until he was close enough to lean down and kiss Mihashi’s forehead.

 

There was that loud, distorted yawn. Abe felt a certain fondness for it this time, but he filed that under the relief from finding the blond. He wasn’t exactly sure where he thought Mihashi had gone, but he definitely did not like the fact that he didn’t wake up next to him.

 

‘Don’t do that to me again,’ he thought as he absently handed Mihashi his aids. He watched the lithe muscles in the blond’s arms tighten as he stretched. He waited until his partner was done fiddling with his hearing aids before speaking.

 

“You know you yawn really loud, right?”

 

“No, I don’t.” Mihashi stood up and twisted his torso to stretch it. He yawned again, this time the sound breathy and quiet. “S _-aaah-_ ee? Quiet.”

 

“No, it’s usually a lot louder. Kind of like—” Abe cut off to try to mimic the louder yawn. It sounded like a zombie from a bad horror movie the couple had watched a few nights ago.

 

Mihashi stopped his stretching to look at Abe, sleep still in his eyes and a dopey grin on his face. “You liar.”

 

Abe couldn’t keep his own smile off his face. ‘His smiles are still infectious. Damn him.’

 

“It totally is. It’s so loud. It’s like... it’s like if zombie and a werewolf had a baby.” He tried to make the sound again, this time his amused chuckle distorting the fake yawn even more.

 

Mihashi protested, trying to cover Abe’s mouth as the ugly sound kept going on and on and on. Abe only stopped fake yawning until Mihashi’s hands were secured over his mouth.

 

“You’re so mean to me,” Mihashi complained, his speech slurred with both sleep and laughter and his cheeks turning a little pink with embarrassment. After keeping his hands over Abe’s lips for a few more moments, a silent warning not to mock him again, he pulled his hands away and pressed a chaste kiss to Abe’s lips.

 

Abe’s smile into the kiss was an endearing one at first, but quickly turned devious. Mihashi’s delighted burst of laughter drowned out the gargled yawn Abe had made against his lips.

 

The pathetic attempts at mimicking Mihashi’s yawn continued throughout the day, eventually bringing out “I’m not going to laugh anymore,” lip-biting glares from the blond. Abe didn’t stop, promising to set up a camera one day to capture the “hilarious zombie-werewolf baby yawn.”


End file.
